India LED pilot hits Haldia highway

Date

04 September 2011

NEW DELHI:Haldia in West Bengal, India, is to begin receiving LED installations on a major highway in the heart of the city, as part of an innovative global LED pilot project which is already underway in Kolkata and Thane.

Haldia Development Authority (HDA) will begin the 290 LED street light installations on the busy HPL link road later this month, and complete installation of all luminaries is expected by November 2011.

This main road is crucial to the industrial city, with large companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance Industries, Haldia Petrochemicals and more, located on either side of it.

The road infrastructure is currently being developed, and a separate tender has been floated by HDA for installation of streetlight poles.

The Climate Group assisted the HDA in preparing the technical specifications of the LED tender document and undertook a technical evaluation of the bids that were received.

Total investment for the project is to the tune of $220,000 which is fully being borne by HDA. The tender to match the technical and financial specifications of the project was floated by HDA in June, and Crompton Greaves was identified as the preferred bidder.

After installation of the luminaries, periodic monitoring of the LED lights' performance will also be undertaken by The Climate Group.

Haldia joins a select group of leading global cities including Adelaide, Guiyang, Hong Kong, New York, London, Shanghai, Sydney, Tianjin and Toronto in launching the pilot as part of The Climate Group’s global LightSavers program, which is funded by the HSBC Climate Partnership.

Before Haldia and Thane, India's first LED pilot was launched in Kolkata to test the performance of 273 LED installations, most of which have been installed in various spots around the city. The responses to the installations have been extremely positive; we quoted Kolkata resident Ashok Chakraborty in our Kolkata LED pilot story in April, where he said: “These streetlamps have not just lightened up the surroundings, but also our lives.”

Similarly supportive remarks will surely soon be made in Haldia too, once the LED lights are installed in the city this month.